This years Vuelta a Castilla y Leon kicks off with a 10 km flat prologue, just outside Zamora. With a small starting field and the Santander team looking really strong, Valverde seems to be the man to beat this race, while his teammate Ventoso is probably the best sprinter around.
Today’s favourite though, aren’t from Santander. They are, with not big time trialists around, Vandenbroeck and Taaramae.
Time for the stage. Race favourite Valverde decides to taken no risks on wheater changes and starts early. This seems to pay off, as he is the first rider to set a proper time: 11’26.
Not too long after him, stage favourite Vandenbroeck made the same decision. He fails under the pressure though, as he didn’t expect to be able to win the prologue when taking the plane to Spain. He takes second, 5 seconds down.
Then we’ve got to wait a while for the next candidate to show up: Rein Taramae. The Ikea rider does what he can, but he comes short just a little: he’s only 1 second slower then Valverde!
Behind him, Energie – Diesel’s Samoilev has a shot at a podium place as well; and it’s a hit! Third so far, 4 seconds behind.
His podium spot doesn’t last long though; Ericsson takes Samoilev’s third spot, behind his teammate Taaramae. 3 seconds slower then Valverde, who’s looking happier every minute a rider finishes and doesn’t beat his time.
Dan Craven migth be the last to challenge Valverde’s top spot; but he’s unlucky today I guess; Fifth, 4 seconds down. There’s only a few riders left, and Valverde is already heading to the podium. Is he cheering too early?
Visconti is the last rider to start, and while he reached the final kilometer, Valverde’s time still stands… He gives it everything he’s got…
But it isn’t anywhere near good enough. Valverde takes the prologue of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon! Might this be the start of 5 days of cycling lessons by Sandander?
Stage result + GC
1
Alejandro Valverde
Santander
11'26
2
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 1
3
Fredrik Ericsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 3
4
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 4
5
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
6
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
Molteni
+ 5
7
Justo Tenorio
Santander
+ 7
8
Tom Criel
Team Starbucks
s.t.
9
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
s.t.
10
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
+ 8
11
Gustavo Veloso
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 9
12
Dries Devenyns
Molteni
+ 10
13
Angel Madrazo
Santander
+ 14
14
Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 15
15
Daniel Moreno
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
16
Benjamin Noval
Molteni
+ 16
17
Florentino Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
18
Paolo Savoldelli
Wii Racing
s.t.
19
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
s.t.
20
Iñigo Landaluze
Molteni
+ 17
21
Francisco Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
22
Francis De Greef
Molteni
+ 18
23
Nuno Ribeiro
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 19
24
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
+ 20
25
Juan Manuel Gárate
Santander
+ 21
26
Oscar Sevilla
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 22
27
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Team Ultimate
s.t.
28
Vladimir Efimkin
Team Starbucks
+ 23
29
Leonardo Duque
Wii Racing
+ 24
30
Remberto Jaramillo
Team Starbucks
s.t.
31
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Wii Racing
+ 25
32
Maurizio Biondo
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 29
33
Rui Costa
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 30
34
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
+ 31
35
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
36
Behnam Khalilikhosroshani
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 32
37
Yannick Stoltz
Team Ultimate
s.t.
38
Viatcheslav Dyadichkin
Team Starbucks
s.t.
39
Magno Nazaret
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
40
Jorge Nogaledo
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 33
41
Anthony Roux
Wii Racing
+ 34
42
Wes Sulzberger
IrnBru - RBS
+ 36
43
Peter Williams
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
44
Tiago Machado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
s.t.
45
Jose Alarcon
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
46
Ludvig Lundberg
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
47
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
+ 37
48
Francisco Ventoso
Santander
s.t.
49
Luis Perez Rodriguez
Molteni
s.t.
50
Sebastian Balck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 38
51
Gregory Henderson
IrnBru - RBS
+ 39
52
Julián Becerra
Wii Racing
+ 40
53
Miguel Chacon
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
54
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Ultimate
+ 41
55
Amets Txurruka
Molteni
s.t.
56
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
57
Timothy Johnson
IrnBru - RBS
+ 42
58
Juan Mora
Wii Racing
s.t.
59
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 44
60
Jesus Del Nero
Santander
+ 45
61
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
+ 46
62
Arnold Jeannesson
Team Ultimate
+ 48
63
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
64
Ananias Ananias
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
65
Lars Andersson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 49
66
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 50
67
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 51
68
Johann Tschopp
Team Starbucks
+ 53
69
Dario Giancecchi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
70
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
+ 54
71
Robert Förster
Wii Racing
+ 58
72
Tommy Zaini
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
73
Pedro Merino Criado
Santander
+ 1'01
74
Paulo Lucas Martins
Team Energie - Diesel
s.t.
Points
1
Alejandro Valverde
Santander
25
2
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
20
3
Fredrik Ericsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
16
4
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
14
5
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
12
6
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
Molteni
10
7
Justo Tenorio
Santander
9
8
Tom Criel
Team Starbucks
8
9
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
7
10
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
6
Young rider
1
Rein Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
11'27
2
Branislav Samoilev
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 3
3
Justo Tenorio
Santander
+ 6
4
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
s.t.
5
Trent Lowe
Team Starbucks
+ 7
6
Angel Madrazo
Santander
+ 13
7
Florentino Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 15
8
Francis De Greef
Molteni
+ 17
9
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Team Ultimate
+ 21
10
Remberto Jaramillo
Team Starbucks
+ 23
Teams
1
Santander
34'39
2
Team Energie - Diesel
+ 7
3
Molteni
+ 10
4
Team Starbucks
+ 14
5
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 19
6
Team Ultimate
+ 24
7
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
+ 27
8
Wii Racing
+ 44
9
IrnBru - RBS
+ 56
10
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty